Artwork: PROMISED LAND, 2015. Acrylic on Linen, 81 x 116 cm, Pedro Paricio, Halcyon Gallery
We all dream, whether we are awake or asleep. Sometimes, without consciousness we simply slip away into another state, into a world of fantasy, desire, and fear. It is a world of imagination, where the only limits are that which we impose upon ourselves. But sometimes we cannot impose limits, so powerful is the drive to dream in our selves. And sometimes we abandon our dreams, but our dreams never abandon us; they simply lurk in the deepest recesses of our being, ready to reveal them selves when they can no longer hide.
Also: He Came. He Drew. He Conquered. David Hockney in His 80th Year
Spanish artist Pedro Paricio understands this and he calls to them, allowing them to inhabit his waking life and be drawn from a palette of paint. Over the past two years, they drew him out, transforming his canvases into evocative scenes layered with meaning and depth. His new series of work began to manifest itself as Paricio’s work began to transform from the inner reaches of his Shaman series to something even more metaphorical.
SEA DOGS, 2016. Acrylic on Linen 92 x 146 cm, Pedro Paricio, Halcyon Gallery
Halcyon Gallery, London, presents Pedro Paricio, Dreams on view now through September 25, 2016, on this, the artist’s fifth anniversary with the gallery. The youngest artist to sign with Halcyon at just 28 years old, Paricio’s career has skyrocketed into the stratosphere. Yet he remains the gracious, humble, philosophical man he has always been, ensconced in his studio for 12-14 hours a day at work.
Born in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Paricio has dedicated his life to art, using the medium of painting as a means to engage with the meaning of life. Paricio observes, “We ask ourselves the grand questions: Who are we? What are we doing here?”
BONNIE AND CLYDE, 2015. Acrylic on Linen, 74 x 114 cm, Pedro Paricio, Halcyon Gallery
Paricio’s paintings poses questions that go beyond the surface of things, making us stop, look, and listen to the voice in our heart that calls without words—just like our dreams. This series of work is a continuation of all that has come before, yet at the same time it extends beyond, into a familiar yet foreign terrain. Paricio reveals, “I don’t want to be an artists with one idea. I make my life difficult. [Laughs]. I always try to push myself out of routine.”
This urge to go beyond the known, to expand outside his comfort zone, allows Paricio to explore new realms and bring his discoveries to light through the creation of art. He observes, “You cannot choose to be a painter, just like you cannot choose to fall in love.” Just like you cannot choose your dreams; they choose you.
REALPOLITIK, 2016. Acrylic on Linen, 92 x 100 cm, Pedro Paricio, Halcyon Gallery
Living and working in the Canary Islands, Paricio has a blessed life, one that allows him to be at one with the elements of nature, family, and art. This triumvirate of influences sets his soul aflame, drawing him back to the easel day after day after day.
For Paricio, the artist occupies a magical space, one that allows them to live eternally in their work. He notes, “Artists are like a black hole; you can travel through time. I was looking at an exhibition of Egyptian art and I saw mummies of animals. There was a personal doing that 5,000 years ago and I can connect with that person today. Even though they lived in a different age and a different country, we are humans. There are basic feelings we share: dreams of peace, power, happiness, and hatred.”
Paricio explains that it is dreams that shape our destiny. “What is happening in Syria is not new. It is the same history. People have to leave to follow a dream. They have to escape from a nightmare in order to be free.”
THE ARTIST, 2016. Acrylic on Linen 100 x 61 cm, Pedro Paricio, Halcyon Gallery
It is these dreams and nightmares that Paricio manifests in acrylic on linen for our contemplation. His painting, The Artist (2016) is at first a candy-striped image of beauty. But then something happens and it reveals itself. The artist has the power of cause and effect. When the artist takes control, we are lead by instinct to respond to the cues they are providing.
Paricio reveals, “I am not a journalist or a politician. I’m a painter trying to find things that can work forever.” He observes that in great works of art, “They put soul energy. There is no drive for money when you really do art. I try to find things that can work forever. I believe in energy.”
Miss Rosen is a New York-based writer, curator, and brand strategist. There is nothing she adores so much as photography and books. A small part of her wishes she had a proper library, like in the game of Clue. Then she could blaze and write soliloquies to her in and out of print loves.
